The mare’s bandaged feet oozed with abscesses, useless to deflect the blows that rained down upon her.

One sharp kick, and then another, came without mercy from a band of frightened horses who tore at the tattered coat of the weakest among them.

As she lay in the soft mud of the Hermiston Auction in Oregon last February, her life spiraled away.

“There were a couple of mares who stood guard over her, but the alpha mares were pretty relentless with the attacks,” recalls Mary Lei, founder of local rescue Rescuing Equines in Need (REIN), who watched in horror as the silent animal seemed to accept her sad fate.

She’d been dumped in the Oregon kill pen and left to cower, and to eventually stumble and fall as some onlookers laughed.

It hadn’t always been this way for the once-beautiful chestnut filly, Selleria.

A granddaughter of Storm Cat, she was born in Kentucky in May 2009. She grew to be glossy coated and full of promise, and she sold a year later at the fabled Keeneland Sale for $24,000.

Selleria
Barn name: Ria
Sire: Van Nistelrooy (Storm Cat)
Dam: She’s Mahogany
Foal date: May 12, 2009She began racing in 2012 at Santa Anita and a year later in September, after a 3rd place finish at Golden Gate, she fell off the radar and reportedly passed through several hands. Five months later she landed in the auction lot to face attack, ridicule, and certain death.

“When she was run through the ring … she was trying to hurry and she fell. People were actually giggling and pointing and laughing at her,” Lei says. “Though we’d intended to euthanize her there at the auction, I thought this was a pretty cool horse who deserved to be put down in a better environment than that.”

So Lei and her team bought padding for their horse trailer, and the young mare, despite her obvious pain, hobbled onboard.

It was, for Lei, one of the most emotional encounters she’s had at an auction. “Ria was gross, covered with ticks and lice and rain rot, and standing in eight inches of mud,” she says. “I said to her, ‘you’re pathetic,’ and hugged her neck, and she dropped her head over my shoulder to pull me closer. And for the first time since I’ve been doing rescue, I started bawling.”

Throughout her recovery from multiple abscesses and laminitis, Ria remained bright-eyed.

In the months that followed, Ria surprised one and all with her bravery and determination to live. In spite of her pain, she approached each day with a bright eye, her ears forward, Lei says. “I’m so impressed with this horse, and that she never gave up when a lesser horse would have,” she says. “Even covered in all that mud, that horse still believed she was some level of royalty.”

Under the gentle training of Oregon horseman Stacey Riggs, Ria has been started on a path to learn dressage, freestyle trail riding, and other disciplines. “She’s a super sweet and very kind horse, and my goal is to work on a connection with her, and building back her strength at a rate she can handle,” Riggs says. “Ria beat the odds and recovered and the next step of her life has begun.”

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75 responses to “Trampled kill-pen mare readies for show”

There isn’t a reason to send the horse to slaughter. I have never believed in horse racing. Shut down horse racing. Do you know how many of those horses were stolen? If you really are a ‘horse person’, YOUR horse should live his life in his pasture and If he gets sick, you call the vet. If he can’t get well, CALL THE VET to put him down. My horse lived a long life in our pasture. I never wanted a horse yet I was given a pregnant registered quarter horse. That was 20 years ago. Her 20 year old foal is still here. I don’t even ride. I do feed, love and care for her as I did her mother.

When my horse had to be put down. I talked to her and stayed with her from before the vet got here until she drew her last breath. I cried like a baby and I just didn’t leave her to die with the vet. Then I paid to have her buried. You people that use or operate kill pens, you are evil. You are on the same level as a pit bull fighter. You will be judged. God did not intend this. Makes me want to VOMIT.

You can say whatever you want. If you don’t agree and want to say something, I don’t care You can’t make this OK.

What a beautiful story…. I rescued a thoroughbred 12yrs ago from a auction… Who probably would have ended up on the trailer for meat… I was told to get rid of him he is ugly and off the track and he will never make a good trail horse!!! Well 12yrs later I still own him… He made a great trail horse… We have traveled all over horse camping… And different rides… And I love him and that’s all that matters… ❤️ I think he is beautiful…

Bless you Mary for being in the right place at the right time!! Love stories like this..but the occasional ill informed comments tire me. People, humanely euthanize your old and debilitated, send unwanted to thoroughbred and other horse rescues! For Heaven sakes, we always had our old horses put down/eauthanized. To send one to slaughter was something only the “Lower class” did, now days it seems to be all the rage because it is the easy and quick money thing to do. People don’t care about their animals anymore, they don’t bond with them like they used too, ‘man’ just USES the animal for pure gain and money. It’s all about greed! All you pro slaughter people who claim it is for over population control… excuse me, but last I checked we the people are horribly overpopulated, so uh.. when and WHO gets to decide when YOUR number comes up? You would NOT do this to your grandparents nor your parents when they are old, week, and feeble, yet it is your “Go to” answer for all companion animals, family pets, your throwaway discards, and I just fear we are one step away from it being the human races turn at this game of pick and choose who gets to live!! Humanely euthanize the old and bad off!!! Send the thoroughbreds here: Remember Me Rescue or contact Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, or get with Goodhorse.com, or Canter USA where they will be repurposed for a new job! Lope TX also provides them with a NEW job! Geez.. and regular horse rescues are EVERYWHERE if you just LOOK instead of taking them to the first auction to be loaded on the meat truck!!!! Too lazy to look for a horse rescue yourself? Contact me! I will find the horse rescues around your area FOR YOU!! Anything to keep one off that heartless suckers meat truck and keep you from lining his FAT POCKET!! You think they are shipping old debilitated…you’re a fool! They ship young healthy registered APHA, AQHA, thoroughbreds, grade, anything they get their greedy hands on, and mares about to foal, they pull that foal, suffocate it at mama’s side and then process mama! Sure there are some old and debilitated that slide through as well, most of those wind up on the floor of those trucks trampled on the way over during the excruciating 16hr ride in the hot semi trailers with no water or feed!! NO.. You need to be having your old and debilitated humanely euthanized, and send your horses to rescue, or don’t buy and breed them only to go through that hell!! Do you think horses don’t have thoughts? A reasoning mind just like your own? There are horses that can count, point or paw a written number when asked, let themselves out of gates, turn on faucets, undo their own headstalls, they are compassionate much like humans, they sense your emotions, they exhibit frustration, anger, joy, and they will shed tears when missing their owners, it’s been proven they can suffer depression. They know what is going on, what is happening to them every step of the way…think about it! When you are done “USING” your horse, find it a good loving family that can afford a horse! Or send it to a rescue, send your thoroughbreds to a repurposing place or contact Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, Canter, Lope, and Goodhorse.com, or send them to Remember Me where they can retire in style! Stop lining the pockets of these killers and heartless processing plants that treat them so roughly for their last months leading up to a cruel death.

Omg tears are rolling down my face. I didn’t know about the foals. I donate to a rescue to get horses from New Holland PA. I can’t look at the pics anymore on the FB site that the rescue facility posts. It literally makes me sick. I would love to see every one of these God aweful places burned down and people stop discarding animals when their purpose is no longer needed. I am OTTB rescue owner myself. God bless .

People are so mis informed about horse slaughter. It is not humane in its current form, for any animal. Some people are old horse people and the myth of horses being slaughtered for zoos persists. Its like come on grandma! Get with the modern times. Zoos stopped using horse meat a long time ago because why? Horses are not clean food folks. If you want to raise horses as food, i can deal with that. I dont like it and i will never ever eat it and i will make fun of and laugh at people who do. But your 4 h horse isnt going to get a stun bolt to their head multiple times before they are strung up and bled out and slaughtered maybe alive. No one would lose a beloved animal to this mess. But the way horse slaugher is now its just a dirty lying cheating business for low lifes who dont know how to do anything else. And it needs to stop.

We all need to help with humane euthanasia and proper disposal -help those who are low on $ vets need to have sliding scale-horses are too sentient for slaughter-most likely any animal is too sentient for slaughter-debra

I have had the opportunity to know Mary and what she does and she has saved many horses lives. This horse is truly a miracle and I was so glad I has the chance to meet her. thank you for all you do Mary and others for these animals.

I can’t believe Susan and Taylor’s comments. To say the horse didn’t fall is so stupid…..just look at the condition this poor horse was in and I can believe it would have fallen and some people would have laughed. Taylor: Slaughter is just that….I expect you know how they are killed and that is Slaughter!!! Euthanasia is totally different and is more humane even though I don’t believe in it unless they are so sick and they are in so much pain it can’t be controlled and some other particular ircumstances.
Now back to this wonderful story of this poor horse which had been through HELL but wanted love and to live. Selleria is a beautiful horse and thank you for saving her and giving her the chance to shine and have a great life. You are wonderful. I must admit I really cried when I read the first part of the story but then turned into happy tears. Thank you.

So thankful for her rescue and even more thankful to the farrier who helped subdue the laminitis that would have surely been Ria’s doom even after her rescue. Her feet in that first photo made me weep! Ms. Wolf-I know that you are a miracle worker! Repairing and regrowing those hooves must have required a lot of research and weeks and months of careful attention

Her health is a testament to a real team. Go Ria!

Yes and as for people laughing, taunting and ridiculing horses at lower end auctions-it’s a daily occurrence. I have even witnessed people hurling stones at agitated horses during viewing hours–from the west coast to the east. No one in charge of these low-end auctions seems to care or attempt to control attendees’ behaviors. It’s a disgrace and gladiator pit spectators have shown greater decorum. Of course the comments made about horses going through high-end auctions can be cruel too. But they are not subjected to the physical proximity of the crowds.

Ria is a wonder horse and wonder horses are made by love, hope, and faith in the enduring power of the spirit! She is a survivor and even if she never did another thing but trot across her paddock and lazily munch carrots she would still show the power of her will to survive. What a story of hope she is! Go forward and show your real stuff Ria!

If you knew anything about what Mary Lei has done in the past for horses nobody would question any part of this story. My hats off to her for she is one of the ones that is in it for the horses and not what the people think!! Again thanks Mary Lei for saving this Mare and many more that I have known you saved before you ever put a name to your rescue!! Jeff

As I read the story, I was absolutely sickened by the so-called humans who would laugh at the plight of a living creature. It made me ashamed to be part of this species. Then I read the comments of (almost all of) those who have replied, and I just have to say that you all have helped me realize yet again that there are wonderful, caring people in this world who would rush to the defense of innocents. I pray that none of us ever give up the fight to protect and redeem the emotionally and physically abused animals (and, yes, humans) who share our world with us. God bless you all for your loving hearts and willing hands!

Though I try to only focus on the outcome, the background details of Ria’s struggle are like a dagger in my heart…. this story is one of the most heartwarming yet. GO RIA, sweetheart. Bless your connections, too.

This story brought tears to my eyes. My own ottb mare Addi, “Adornment” was also rescued from a kill pen in Oregon. She too was a Keeneland mare auctioned for $60,000 and was a winner here on the west coast only to slip through the cracks after retirement. I’m happy to say at the age of 23 after alot of love,care and some rehab she is happy and healthy and i couldn’t be happier. We’ve been training her in dressage over the last few months and will be in her first show in a few weeks. Please visit these auctions if you’re able and help save these wonderful animals.

The TB industry is throw away horses, for the most part, they make their money on the horse and generally it becomes, No longer their problem. Over breeding TB for the race. No regard for them later in life. Unless they make the big $$$ very few have a sure future.. The rich an powerful wins and the horse looses.

Thank you for saving her….It is so sad to watch the post parade with all of the beautiful horses walking to the post….not knowing if they will break down and die on the track or lose and wind up at auction….brings new meaning to “Run for your life”…..

A true testimony to the resolve of these animals. There is no greater joy for us than to see her (and other rescues’) recovery, but disturbing to ponder the countless potential destined to be slaughtered. Irresponsible breeding, greed, and a myriad of other human acts perpetrated on horses continue the cycle. She is a remarkable representative for the cause. God Bless You

What a sad but beautiful story. Tears down my face as I read such an incredible stiry of a person who cared so much for this animal. Bless you for what you do. And I wish this horse
The best life ever. . God Bless you.

I totally agree with Leslie. It is more often than not that I am brought to tears by a horses situation. I think it more that we as a human race can let this happen. We should be protecting God’s creatures – especially the ones that work so hard at pleasing us! Thank you BIG to the rescuers – your job is never ending!

This, as with all animal abuse cases, was hard to read. It brought me to tears. The human race disgusts me an awful lot these days. So glad this beautiful girl has a good life. Thank you so much to the rescuers!

Please help Ria! Donate to her account…This mare has a chance to speak for all the forgotten Horses out there. She is in the hands of a well known admired trainer in Oregon who gives much of her time to other rescues and mustangs.Help her help Ria. http://www.gofundme.com/ks4q6g

People laughed at her? That poor girl–I’m so glad she made it to a safe place. I’ll never understand how horses can wind up in that kind of condition and how people can just look at these beautiful creatures as “meat on the hoof”. Bravo to her rescuers.

Stories like this literally break my heart and bother me for days…I cannot wrap my head around how this happens way too often. So thankful for Mary Lei and others like her that do what they do for these horses. I plan to send a donation to REIN. Ria is a lovely mare.

We need a heavy penalty or the owners that dump these horses. When are we, as an educated, compassionate, Christian society going to treat animals right? The penalty for cruelty and abandonment should be severe.

Stories like this should come with a caveat like WARNING: POSSIBLE TEARS AHEAD or DO NOT READ THIS AT WORK. OTTBs like Ria are far too common, and far too many fall through the cracks. Keep up the good work writing stories like this, Susan. SO glad you’re back “in the traces.” ;o)

Woah, woah, woah now. I’ve been a “real horse person” since I was born and I am, in some situations, pro-slaughter. I’ve rescued many, many horses and know from experience that you can’t save them all. Horse rescues and sanctuaries are full, and there are never enough homes for every horse out there. I am pro-slaughter, but I believe that the process should be humane, with guidelines and safety standards, etc. We will never be able to stop the slaughter in other places around the world, and it would be much kinder to end their suffering here rather than force them to make the brutal trip to Mexico or Canada and endure the terribly inhumane, torturous procedure of slaughter there.

Slaughter is NEVER the answer. We don’t slaughter our homeless dogs and cats (Lab Chops, anyone?). Why should we allow our horses to be slaughtered? The very partners who helped us build our civilizations? What we need to do is stop our horses from being shipped to other countries to be slaughtered (#YES2SAFE), stop creating orphan foals (PMU Mares, Nurse Mares, etc), leave our wild horses in the wild, and stop the massive overbreeding, so that every horse DOES have a home! And every race horse should have his or her safe retirement fully funded. If a horse is in pain, and cannot be saved, it should be humanely EUTHANIZED, not slaughtered! NEVER slaughtered! And as for “humane” slaughter…really? Not to mention that most horses have received drugs that make their meat dangerous to consume.
Bravo/Brava to all who rescue horses, but I long for the day when horses will no longer need to be rescued.

“Slaughter” may not be the correct word….but, oh heck YES….we “kill/euthanize” tens of thousands of homeless dogs and cats yearly in this nation.

Same reason…..the almighty dollar. Breeders breeding beyond the demand. Uneducated people buying and adopting and rescuing with no intent on spaying or neutering and perpetuating the problem. “Just that ONE litter — for the kids.”

OMG. As long as people think there is even a glimmer of hope they can make a buck…they will. I don’t want to deny them the right to make that buck, but the buck doesn’t stop there!

we slaughter approximately 4 million homeless dogs and cats in shelters every year in the US. It is better than it has been… it used to be in excess of 20 million homeless pets. But we don’t call it slaughter.. we say “euthanize” because it sounds less horrid. and many communities still use gas chambers or heart stick.

Taylor, if you are pro-sluaghter for ANY reason, you are a cruel person. Want it done to you – no – then don’t do it to any other living being. The way to end horse slaughter is to cut back on the number of horses out there… and that is done when you STOP BREEDING.

I completely agree with the sentiment that we need to Stop Breeding. All of our dogs and horses have been rescues or OTTBs, and we are committed to doing our part in reducing the demand for more breeding.

I especially like Jennifer’s suggestion that “…every race horse should have his or her safe retirement fully funded.”

Nina Eckhoff- I am not pro slaughter but what exactly do we do with the thousands of unwanted horses? we can’t solve the unwanted dog/cat problem.. what do we do with the horses? there are about 150,000 unwanted horses shipped to slaughter every year. I’d love to hear a proposal that is realistic and stands half a chance at being viable. Just being against slaughter isn’t enough. You need a plan- and you can’t put it off on the government to solve.. because the government won’t come up with the money. and if you really care about animal cruelty then you wouldn’t eat meat products of any kind or dairy. If you are veg- then wonderful; if not then think about how you can care about cruelty to one kind of animal and not care about the endless suffering of other sentient and intelligent beings.

I am a vegetarian and the answer is not slaughterr -it is euthanasia which needs to be lowcost and taken to the dump at a reasonable shipping charge-the transport feedlot brutal slaying is beneath the values of being an american-
debra bish

Any so called horse person who is pro-slaughter is NO real horse person, period! This poor girl suffered horribly so someone else in another country could eat her. We do not eat horse meat in this country. But, there is hope as long as there are angels out there to save them. I live in Alaska and thank god we do not have kill pens and probably never will. What a wonderful story!

It’s illegal now to ship horse meat overseas. Horses that are slaughtered in mexico or canada go to feeding our big cats in zoos. Oh, but it’s not inhumane that those wild animals are cooped up like that for our entertainment, is it? That’s what I thought. Without slaughter our zoo animals go hungry. Without zoos, those captive animals die anyhow. Oh what a wonderful world we live in.

I think the owners are responsible for the end game of these OTTBs. The Owners more likely than not do not know what happens to them once they are sold. I will keep saying it, the only way I see to stop this process is to pass Federal legislation to stop transport of US horses across US borders for Slaughter and allocate money to enforce the laws at the border.

What a heartbreaking story and I am so grateful Mary saved her. So sad for all the frightened horses in that kill pen that day and every day. And it made me sad that a couple mares actually stood guard over her even though they too were probably bewildered as to why they were there themselves.

I was sickened to read that people at the auction actually pointed and laughed at Ria when she fell down. Why? Why would any human with a soul laugh at an animal in that way? I just do not understand that line of thinking at all.

And I do not understand how most breeders just do not care what happens to the animal they brought into this world. The breeders are 100% responsible. The animal does not ask to be brought into this world and at that moment that the breeder makes that decision, he/she is 100% responsible for that life.

This auction has 3 huge horse sales a year, with a ton of “loose” or “meat” horses. Owners put their horses into those pens for a variety of reasons: they don’t have time to stay to lead or ride them through, the horse is wild, they drop them off and leave, not caring who wins the bid (which in the case of the loose pens, is mostly killbuyers), it’s cheaper to run them through loose. People tend to think all horses in those nasty, muddy pens are wild, unbroke horses, which is far from the truth, so they don’t bid. If I remember correctly, just 1 of the many killbuyers that frequent this auction took home 99 horses from this auction alone. A lot of the kill buyers will ship as soon as the auction is over.

I can’t remember if it was the February, May or October auction, but a local ranch (within 100 miles) brought in over 30 of its young stock, with quite a few NOT getting private homes.

From this same auction as Ria (February 2014) I ended up with a horse that was consigned (they go after the loose horses on Sunday) who was bought by a killbuyer, who sold him for over twice what he paid. I noticed this horse at the auction out of the 100s that were there, as he was in a tiny pen right across from the gate that lead down to the alley in front of all the loose pens and as I would go back up to recharge my camera to get more and more pictures (I think I took 850 or so at this auction) he would greet me each time. and I was so hoping he would get bought by a good home.

I’ve followed Ria’s (Princess Ria to her staff, I mean caretakers) since I saw her in the pens, as Mary is a friend of mine. She has come a long way and I hope she just continues to excel under Stacey and wins at the showcase.

That is what happened with my OTTB, some cowboys dropped her off with some other horses, including another TB, and just left, not caring who won the bids. My friend bid against the kill buyer to get my mare.

You are so right about those horses not having any training. Turns out my mare did have some background of training and has actually done well in basic dressage riding and Western riding since I’ve had her.

That is so cool you took the horse that greeted you each time you went back to take more pictures!

What heart Ria has that she could get up out of the mud, hobble on a trailer and during those moments still offer thanks, love and trust to her brave hearted rescuer. Brave hearted because she was far from a simple save. And now on to the show! Maybe she can meet up with Metallic Sky from Second Chance TB’s. They can share stories. I hope Susan’s stories can prompt people to rescue themselves or keep their own horses until a good home is found.

God bless you for rehabilitating this mare. These terrible stories of what happens to these poor animals is heartbreaking. No animal should ever have to suffer. I hope and pray that one day all breeders and owners will be regulated and held responsible for treatment of their animals. And something has to be done to stop the ill treatment of all animals in slaughter yards.

When I see these posts, I am ashamed to think people can be so heartless. These horses are pampered their entire lives not knowing their lives depend only on their ability to earn the owner a dollar. If, they can’t be a money earner they are cast aside in an enviroment so utterly strange to them. I can’t imagine her horror because she had know idea what she did wrong. Praise God she was rescued and have a life.

Susan, if you don’t “buy” the story than it is my fault. If you had talked with Mary, who reported Rai’s story, and heard the detail of the moment, it was 100 percent believable. The mare fell in the sales ring, as she was being chased/whipped to move along so bidders could see her move. But of course she couldn’t move well because of her condition, and she fell. Rai reports the chuckles and derisive comments came at that point. I can totally picture it, whether they laughed out of nervous embarrassment or actual meanness is not known to me. – Sue

I can totally picture it as well. Some horse people CAN be that cruel.

Perfect example…the cowboys who dropped off my mare at the local auction on a cold, snowy weekday morning when most people are at work and not attending an auction to look for their next riding horse. But the kill buyer sure was there. I’d like to add the mare was 150 pounds underweight, had bad feet, her coat was dull, and her underbelly had icicles frozen to the hair.

Then the cowboys left, not even bothering to stick around to make sure the kill buyer didn’t get her (which he almost did). I’d say these cowboys fall into the category of “horse people”, after all, they make their living riding horses. I’d also say they were cruel for what they did that day.

I agree, Barb – “horse people” can be that cruel. I was at an auction a few years ago, and a mare went through who had a huge abscess under her tail. Even the auctioneer was joking about her, and people were laughing as he started the bidding at $1. The mare followed her handler quietly, with dignity, and if I had had the money and “marital support,” I would have brought her home that very day. But the gist is, yes, so-called horse people can be incredibly cruel. Sad, and sickening.

What a lovely, inspiring story! I’m crying for what this mare had to endure, and so happy she found a safe landing. Having rescued my own mare out of the kill pen a few yrs ago, I am so thrilled for her and her people! Good luck, Ria, at your show. We’ll be cheering for you! Thank you Susan, for a wonderful story